Todd shifted, uncrossing his arms. “Well, some things you’ve told me, he sounds like a typical type A, obsessive workaholic.” He shook his head an inch and looked down. “In my opinion, that’s not the best way to deal with people who need support.” When he looked up, I recognized the expression that crossed his face as worry.
Over the past three months, I’d become something of a master at reading Todd’s face. The throbbing vein on his forehead meant concern. The crinkly lines shooting out from the sides of his eyes were mischief. I was about to get kissed really, really good when the tips of his ears got red. When he pressed his lips together until they resembled two straight lines: anger.
“It’s a good thing I’m completely prepared,” I said, feeling like I needed to reassure him, even though I knew darned well there was no real way to feel even halfway prepared for what was in store for us.
Todd opened his mouth, probably about to dispute my statement by pointing out that among other things, I hadn’t bothered to learn any new songs over the summer.
“Completely prepared,” he said with a kind smile instead, realizing that was exactly what I needed to hear.
{chapter 17}
“WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS”
A
fter three months of relative peace and quiet, my cell exploded with calls and texts the moment our plane touched down.
“All yours,” Todd said, passing it to me.
“Is it too late for me to go to clown college?” I asked, staring down at my phone.
The first call was Molly, reminding us that she and the car were waiting in front of the airport. She called right back—Shugger was meeting us directly outside the security checkpoint.
“I don’t know why she doesn’t just text,” I complained. As the plane taxied down the runway, I listened to three months’ worth of messages, deleting most of them after the second word. Nothing like a tidy voice-mail inbox.
“Looks like vacation’s officially over,” Todd said, glancing at the cell as he handed me my carry-on. I unzipped the side pocket, pulling out slate shadow, charcoal liner, and black mascara.
“Sorry,” I said after painting on some quick smoky eyes. “There’s a lot for me to catch up on.”
“It’s fine,” he replied, gathering some of our things from the overhead bin. “Anything I can do?”
“I’m afraid not. But it should quiet down once we make it to the car.” After slicking on some cherry-red lips, I sighed and looked up at him.
He did a double take. “Wow.”
“What?”
His green eyes crinkled mischievously. “You look . . .” He tilted his head to the side. “You’re
her
now, aren’t you?” His first two fingers made air quotes. “Abigail Kelly.”
“In the flesh.” I beamed, puckering my glossy red lips. “And all the crapola that comes with her.”
Todd ruffled the top of my head. This casual touch not only sent a familiar sizzle down my spine, but it also filled me with a comfort I’d grown used to.
“The airport’s always crazy,” I continued into my compact, touching up the purposefully smudgy makeup. “You’re welcome to keep a distance from Shugger and me if you want.” I snapped my mirror shut and tucked it away. “Actually, I wouldn’t blame you if you made a run for it back to Florida right now.”
“Now that you mention it . . .”
I grabbed his arm. “Don’t make me hurt you, Marine.”
“Relax,” he soothed, his thumb rubbing the inside of my elbow.
Suddenly it was
me
who longed to make a run for it, to hop aboard the next returning flight back to his home, his beach, his store, his wonderful world.
But
my
world was calling now. “There’ll be a lot of people,” I said, tucking my hair behind one ear.
“Obviously.”
“Shugger’s likely to grab me before we even see him. He’s sneaky that way, despite his size. You’ll recognize him; he looks like Chuck D, but bigger, and he always wears white.”
Todd nodded.
“Oh, and he calls me ‘Sally.’”
“I know, Abby.”
“It’s like an inside joke that’s barely funny.”
“I know, Abby. You told me all that.”
“Oh.” I nodded and smiled at him. “There’ll be questions, too. About you.
Apparently
, your picture’s been everywhere. Pretty tough to lay low, but we can try.”
“Whatever you think is best,” Todd said, pulling me into the aisle. “Like I told you last night, this is
your
turf. Until I get my feet wet, you’re completely in charge of me.”
“Oooh, I like that.” I kissed his cheek, rubbing off my lipstick mark afterward. “Stay close to me. When Shugger separates us, it’s okay.” I took his hand as we climbed the ramp that led to the gate.
When we rounded the last bend, I could hear it.
“Todd,” I said out of the corner of my mouth, “don’t freak out.”
“Don’t . . . ?”
“When Molly called last, she told me our arrival time had been leaked.”
“Leaked?”
“Yeah.” I grasped his hand tighter, for
his
benefit. “So just—don’t freak out.”
“Why would I fr . . .”
Usually the cool, macho Marine officer, Todd actually flinched when we exited into the terminal. The noise from outside security seemed exceptionally loud today, and growing louder the closer we got.
“You’re not scared?” he asked as we stepped off the escalator.
I slid on my sunglasses. “Dah-ling,” I replied, doing my best impersonation of his mother’s accent, “I am much too petrified to be scared.”
He turned a shade of green.
“Don’t worry.” I squeezed his arm tight. “Allow me to be
your
armored car for a change.”
Todd stopped walking and held me at his side.. I stood at his side. “I think . . .” He hesitated, looking down at me. “I think I might need to kiss you first. Do you mind?”
More than willing, I complied, allowing pedestrian traffic to pass us by. As our respective fingers linked around each other’s, I felt like we were a real team, poised to face the horrible, hairy beast of Show Biz together.
“Ahhh. Thank you,” he breathed, taking a deep inhale of the side of my neck when we were finished.
“
Prego
,” I whispered, properly rolling my
r
.
In response, Todd moaned one of his throaty growls, making me want another five minutes to pull him into a dark corner and finish that kiss.
People were waiting for me, though. There were always people waiting. So instead, I plastered on a smile and chirped, “Ready?”
Todd stood up straight, shoulders squared. “Lead the way.”
The ear-splitting roars were like white noise to me as we passed the last security exit. Shugger immediately seized me on one side, while another bodyguard popped up on the other.
“Flamingo’s landed,” Shugger reported into a headset.
The excited mob was barely being held at bay by the troop of airport rent-a-cops and flimsy barricades. Signs welcoming me home were peppered throughout the throng. Cameras flashed, questions were shouted. Everyone was cheering.
“Sally,” Shugger’s low voice boomed out. His muscled, protective arm around me gave an affectionate squeeze. He seemed bigger after all these months, or maybe I’d forgotten what a mountain of a man he was. It wasn’t every day you see a six-foot-four, three-hundred-pound black man dressed in impeccable head-to-toe white linen. Well, maybe in Miami you do.
After properly assessing that I was okay, my burly bodyguard’s round, toffee-colored eyes moved to Todd. “So, this is him?”
“Shugg!” I got right in his huge face. “Do
not
embarrass me.”
Shugger chuckled and then pursed his lips, pointing his chin toward Todd. “How’s it going, son?”
Todd attempted to formally introduce himself, but most of it was lost to the other noise. The two men shook hands across me while I waved and blew kisses to the screaming crowd.
Shugg let go of me for a quick second and laid one large hand on Todd’s shoulder. “Ya ready for this?”
Todd forced a smile, but his eyes revealed bewilderment, lights and flashes reflecting between every blink.
Shugger laughed. “You’ll get used to it. Don’t worry, Shugger Daddy’s got ya.”
Shugg handed off my purse to the other bodyguard, who slipped it into a larger bag.
“Y’all set?”
We nodded.
“A’ight. Let’s bounce.”
With me sandwiched between my two huge escorts, we began our rapid escape through the sea of people like some demented scene à la
A Hard Day’s Night
, girls shrieking, fans crying, pushing, pulling, fighting their way to gain a glimpse. From the lobby, past baggage claim, to the car took all of five minutes, yet somehow we managed to lose Todd along the way. I was practically hurled into the back seat, and then Shugger disappeared.
“Welcome home.” Molly beamed at me as the limo door slammed shut.
“Hi!” I grinned.
“Hi, yourself.” Her white teeth gleamed. “Now get over here.”
She grabbed me, and after planting a kiss on each of my cheeks, sat back against the seat, her chestnut hair long and silky and as straight as a razor, falling just along the corners of her brown eyes. She was all legs, cheekbones to die for, and a smile that made the angels weep and the men follow behind her with their tongues hanging out. Her nose had a microscopic bump—probably the sole reason why her modeling career never shot off the way it should have.
Lucky for me, Molly also had the disposition of a girl’s best friend as well as the work ethic of a coalminer. I somehow felt more organized just from sitting across from her.
“So, get to it then,” Molly said through her heavy accent, looking like a young Victoria Beckham while sounding like The Artful Dodger. “Where’s the yummy bloke?” She wore a hungry grin on her bow lips.
“There, somewhere,” I replied, pointing out the tinted window. “Shugg went to find him.”
“Bloody ’ell, Abby,” she chided disapprovingly. “You lost him already?”
“You know me. Can’t keep a man.”
She flipped her hair. “I’m dying to get a look at him.”
“You’ve seen Todd,” I said, remembering what I’d heard about the magazine pictures. Then I remembered what Todd had said on the plane. “You’ve been calling and texting him, too, right? On
my
cell?”
Molly pulled an innocent face. “
You
never bother with it anymore, so I reckon
someone
should care.”
I grinned, letting her off the hook.
Molly grinned, too, easing farther back in her seat. “Well, you look ripping,” she said, folding her arms. “Nice skin, killer tan. Just fab.”
“I’m not even wearing blush. Didn’t use mascara all summer till this morning.”
She nodded in approval. “How was the flight?”
“Fine.” I couldn’t help observing the sparkling tennis bracelet around her wrist. I adjusted the priceless homemade seashell necklace that hung inside my shirt. “I didn’t sleep.” I broke off to yawn. “But it was fine.”
Molly snickered. “Doll, you never sleep. Oh, plans have changed,” she added, her fingers swishing across her iPad. “Max wants us at Studio Universe straightaway.”
“I just landed. Or doesn’t he realize I was on the other end of America this morning?”
Molly said nothing, just shot me the same look we’d been exchanging for five years. Without a word, we could communicate volumes. And at that moment we were in total agreement that Max Salinger was being utterly unreasonable, and there was nothing we could do about it.
I slumped back on the hard leather seat, knowing it was useless to argue. Molly kept me on my schedule flawlessly. Sometimes she was much too excellent at her job.
“What time is it, anyway?” I wondered absentmindedly.
“Half past nine.” She glanced at me over the top of the tortoise-shell glasses perched on the tip of her nose.
“Oy vey,” I moaned. “It’s going to be a very long day.” I closed my eyes, my fingers mechanically twirling a strand of hair. “What are we waiting for?”
“For your paramour.”
“Oh, him. He’s probably been abducted.”
Silence fell as Molly stared at me. “There’s a mob out there. You’re not worried about him?” She leaned forward, looking concerned but also like she wasn’t sure what to do next.
When I clapped a hand over my mouth, she was probably ready for me to start freaking out in a mad panic. But instead, I buckled in half and burst out laughing.
“Crikey, Abby.”
When I blinked up at her through my tears, Molly looked positively
gob smacked
, as she would have said, like she hadn’t witnessed me laughing in a year.